Habits We All Need to Develop To Be The Best Version Of Ourselves

How do you feel about yourself? Do you feel that you are the best version of yourself? I do – most days. Other days I feel like a total failure, completely overwhelmed and as if though I take on entirely too much and I’m not nearly efficient enough to take care of all of it on my own. I mean, I have four kids so we already know I’m borderline crazy most days; but I don’t feel like it all the time. Most of the time I’m confident, in charge and really cool with myself and my way of life. Other days, I’m pretty positive no one would have given me a license to be a responsible, capable adult if it were a requirement.

The thing is this; we all have bad days, we all have moments. We all have a funk we find ourselves in every so often. I won’t lie; the past few weeks have been a major funk for me. School has been out for 10 weeks and we have a week to go until our big girls go back to school. The first 8 weeks of summer were just fine. Okay, the first 7 weeks of summer were just fine with all four kids home; the past three have been rough. We are all a little tired of one another. We are all a little bit more than ready to get back into our normal routine and get back to school, and it cannot come soon enough.

I’ve been in a funk. I get this way when I’m stressed and overwhelmed, especially when I know that relief is just around the corner. Next week I’ll be good. Life will regain structure and I’ll regain 3 hours a day to myself to focus on work in the afternoons while the girls are in school and the twins nap. I will no longer feel as if I’m neglecting my kids when I’m in my office during nap time because they’ll be in school. I will be me again; I just cannot wait.

What I’m getting at is that we all have this thing where we kind of suck sometimes, and I thought it might be nice if every week or so I took a little time to delve into ways we can better ourselves. Wouldn’t that be a nice addition to what I already bring to you? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all learn a thing or two about being better versions of ourselves on the regular? Like a reminder that we don’t suck, we aren’t awful and that there is hope when we are having really off days? I like it – so here we go. Let’s see if we can improve ourselves enough on the inside to be more successful in life – physically, emotionally, financially and personally. I’ll start with some good habits I think we can all benefit from in every aspect of life.

Learn to Rest

I don’t do this, and I know it’s killing me. I know that I need to take time to sit down, rest and relax from time to time so that I can be a better person. I’m no good to anyone when I’m not my best, and not resting does not allow me to be the best. I need to let it go sometimes and rest so that I don’t get sick, so that I’m not overwhelmed, and so that I’m not quite so cranky.

Set Time Limits

One of the biggest issues we all face is that we spend too much time on wasted habits. I know that I might spend entirely too much time perusing Pinterest and it takes away from other things in my life. I spend too much time on Instagram, and it doesn’t allow me to focus on things that really need doing. I’d have more productive time if I set limits to these things, and we should all try it. Let’s shut down our phones and computers at a certain time, schedule social media time so we aren’t wasting it constantly and let’s get our lives back.

Find Some Fun

Okay; this is the one I think we can all benefit from the most. When was the last time you did something truly fun? I had a great weekend this past weekend with my two oldest daughters and my husband down in Orlando at the Gaylord. It was such a nice little break from reality, and I loved every second of it. But let’s face it; it wasn’t real, exuberant fun. Yes, it was amazing to watch the girls have such a good time. Yes, it was amazing to get away with just them without the babies who take all our time, energy and focus. Yes, it was a gorgeous hotel, we had amazing food and drink and a gorgeous suite. Yes, we had a blast.

But my husband pointed something out to me. It wasn’t actually real fun. Who can have real fun wiping a 5-year-old every time she goes to the bathroom because she isn’t that good at it? Who can have fun with the girls want you to follow them to the water slide and back every three seconds? Is it really fun to share a room and bathroom with two little kids? It’s not that much fun to cut their food and remind them to eat their veggies and to brush their teeth. It was fun, but not really that much fun.

We all need some real fun in our lives. What I mean is that we all need to find something that we love, enjoy and cannot find anything not to love. We need fun that is just for us. Just for us and no one else.

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